Middle of Night Emergency Wake-up

My phone’s loud emergency alarm woke us at 1:34 am, without warning. Now that’s a wake-up call! I grabbed the phone to silence it, then read that there was an earthquake notice in the area. While Don and I didn’t feel the earth shake, people in other parts of San Jose did.

“Get down, duck, and cover,” said the message. We stood under doorjambs for a minute or two. Then, although we’d been sound asleep, we stayed awake awhile, holding each other close before we fell back asleep.

Without warning. That’s how earthquakes come.

That’s how Jesus will return for His people. “In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye. . . ”

Are we ready?

Jesus’ Suffering

Jesus agonized on that cross. There was the physical pain. There was the shame of crucifixion as he was stripped, whipped, and crowned with thorns that drew blood. The shame of his mother and disciples as they watched Him humiliated before the crowds. But He ignored that shame to finish the work God had for Him on earth.

Can you imagine what the pure, sinless Son of God felt like with the weight of the world’s sin on Him? So tarnished by its weight that even His Father had to turn away, causing Jesus to cry out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”

For a brief time, Father and Son, who were one with each other and the Holy Spirit, were separated. (Learn more at GotQuestions.org)

A Savior? Why?

Why do we need a Savior?

• Have you ever told a lie?
• Stolen something?
• Yelled or fought back in anger?
• Disrespected your spouse or partner?
• Gossiped?
• Slandered someone’s good name, in the guise of “Let’s pray for him/her”?

We so often think of the “big sins” like murder, adultery, thievery—but each of us is a sinner, unable to meet God’s holy standard.

Why Did Jesus Have to Die?

The cross isn’t just a symbol. It’s a place of shame, torture, and spilled blood. Crucifixion is one of the cruelest deaths possible. So why did Jesus go through that?

“Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God.”

—Hebrews 12:2, ESV

Jesus saw the joy ahead when He would rise from death and be reunited with the Father.

Jesus is There

I’ve had times when I felt distant from God. When I finally said, “God, I can’t live without You,” He was there for me.

Jesus came the first time to redeem us from our sinful natures, to provide reconciliation with God by paying the penalty for our sins so we could be forgiven.

“For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”

—Romans 6:23, NIV

Imagine the joy of Jesus’ disciples when He appeared to them three days after His death. The one in whom they had placed all their hopes was not dead, but alive!

He Will Return

Even so, He will return again for those who love Him. He has given the world many opportunities to hear and believe what Jesus did for us at Calvary in order to spend eternity with Him. But the day of His return will come “as a thief in the night.” No warning!

“But let me reveal to you a wonderful secret. We will not all die, but we will all be transformed!  It will happen in a moment, in the blink of an eye, when the last trumpet is blown. For when the trumpet sounds, those who have died will be raised to live forever. And we who are living will also be transformed.  For our dying bodies must be transformed into bodies that will never die; our mortal bodies must be transformed into immortal bodies.”

—I Corinthians 15:51-13 NLT

Easter is the reason Jesus came to earth.

“He lived the life I couldn’t live; and died the death I should have died.”

—Tim Wood

The Meaning of Easter

If you haven’t considered the true meaning of Easter, I beg you to meditate on it now. I don’t know when He will return. Many prophecies of the end times are being fulfilled as I write. But even Jesus said only the Father knew the time of Jesus’ return. It could be today, it could be another thousand years.

He calls us to receive His love and forgiveness now, while we have the opportunity. Let’s be ready and watching!